Trailer leveling mechanism



Feb. 13, 1951 R. Q. ARMINGTON ET AL 2,541,853

TRAILER LEVELING MECHANISM Original Filed May 12, 1945 s Sheets-Shet 1 MW a 0E owm MN MM MR Nfi 0 T W E T D A NG W "KG Y/ B 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 13, 1951 R. Q. ARMINGTON El AL TRAILER LEVELING MECHANISM Original Filed May 12, 1945' INVENTORSI fiArM 01m 0. ARM/Nara GEORGE E. A/iM/NGTON BY 2W Maw ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 13, 1951 R. Q. ARMINGTON ET AL TRAILER LEVELING MECHANISM Original Filed May 12, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fla. 4-.

v M v. m D M m R G0RG E. ARMINGTON Q a W W ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED? s" r ars- E N-T OQE-FIC 117i TRAILERTLEVELING MEGHANISM I Raymond 1Q. Armington, Shaker .H'ight's, .and.

George EfArmingto'n, South Euclid, Ohio, 35-.

signorato-The Euclid Road"'-Machinery-Coi, Euclid; Oli-iog a corporation-ofiOhio Original .applicationMay 12,..-.- .19e5;,.seria1 (No.1...

593,412... Divided and this application iMarch 7,.1946, ZSe'rial No; 552,606 I 2 Claims. 1 (CI. 280 6) This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for digging and loading earth or the like "bygmeans of a device traveling falong the ground and cutting'and lo'ading material as it moves.

This application-is 'a division of our'copending for raising and lowering the cutting means with corresponding adjustment of the conveying means, all of which is arrangedto cut into a" high embankment as above described.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the wheel means for supporting the apparatus for travel along the ground including a novel mounting of the'wheel means for adjustment to various positions on ground surfaces which are not level. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of our device showing a second position of the con veyor in dot-dash lines;

Fig. 2 is'a sideelevational view of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is 'an'end View of the same showingja" port-ionof a haulingvehicle in'dot-dash 'lines;'

Fig. '4 is afragmental sectional vievv taken along the line -4 of Fig.2;

Fig. 5 is-a-fragmental elevational view taken approximately from the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Our inventionprovides a de,vic.e. of..exceptional size and capacity adapted to'travel along the ground'and to dig and load the material. over which the devicetravels at the .IatE'IOfLThQJf. a

ton to a tonevery second. In the drawings, we have shown a device of the trailer type supported at its forward end solely by a hitch mounting on" a tractor device. and. suppo1ted'-near' its rear'end by. .wheel. means'later. described It should be" of the apparatus. Theseside beams are prefer-- ably ,ofhollowbox construction, and each of them. maybe formed of 'a pair-of channel-shape 'sec-'" tions having theirfla'nges facing each otherand 1 Thetwo'side beamsare rigidly joined together at thefront end -of'the device welded together;

by a'hollo'w box beam-|3 generally hexagonal in sectionas'clearly seen in Fig. 2. At the rear end a subfrarne numbered i t ext'endsdo'wnwardly from 1O beam' I i-to connect rigidly with cross-beams l5 and I5 which in turn are connected to the rear end of the side-beam [2-4 A bumper block J1. is secured to the rear face of the cross-beamv 6 for use if a pushertractor is used; .Extending for- 15 wardly'from'the ;mid-portion of beam l3 is'ithe drawbar l8 which is connected by hitch. [9 .to a-'- tractor vehicle so; This hitch connection'isfully describedand claimed in the" copending application of Mayner and Kapel, Serial'Number 513,702,

20 filed December-'10, 1943, now :Patent No. 2,488,676

3a,.verticaladjustment of the cutting devices. This understood, however, that certain featuresf'of ours? invention are applicable to -a-device' of this ty'pe whatever the mounting for srtravel along the e ground may be. In other words, certain features of our invention are equally applicable whether the forward wheel means is on the tractor or trailer portion of the entire apparatus.

The digging and loading device comprises a main frame having side frame members H and I2, each generally parallel to the path of travel granted :November "22, 1949, to which'reference may be had for further details. The only other support forthe apparatus is the wheel means indic'atedat 2i and 22 to the rear of the. center of j 5 the digging and loading apparatus and which will be'described in greater detail later;

Thedig'ging and :loading devices are carried on "a subframe which is mounted on the main.

frame above'clescribed in a manner to permit the subframetcomprises a pair cf compression strut pushbeams 23" and as, each oscillatingin a vertical plane parallel to,and to the left of, beams H and-l2 respectively when. looking toward the tafront" of 'the apparatus.

beams is of box-beam. construction, the beam having a greatervertical depth toward the front of the machine 1 and tapering. .rearwardly and upwardly. The push 'beam.:;.23 has a pivotal 4o..mounting., at 23d on'..the vertical rear post 25.

whichis 'inalinement with oneof the. frame beams "M.

' I! .tie's "the..rear"posts together.

forward'ends the'push'beams 23' and 24 are rigidly connected together by the diagonally extending cross beam 29, generally triangular in section, and by the diagonally extending beam 30, of

55 generally square section.

The digging devices are mounted at the front Eachof .these push The push beam 24 has. a .pivotal mounting"in'alinementwith 23g, on the vertical rear post 26." A cross beam .Z'li rigidly connected 45. between posts 25. and 26 above the level .of beam.

Each of these.

posts h'as a diagonalbrace ,extending.., from the... top 1of"po'st' 25. or .26" diagonally. downward to. the adjacentside'beam member. of the main frame 50 asshownc1early in Fig. 1 by brace 28. At their.

lower ends of the push beams 23 and 24. Cutting means is provided in a generally horizontal plane and arranged concave in a forward direction with plow point 31 in the forwardmost point at the left side of the apparatus and a hardened point 32 at the forwardmost point on the right-hand side of the cutting devices. A cutting blade 33 extends inwardly and rearwardly from the point 32 at an angle of approximately thirty-six degrees with the center line of the apparatus. At the point 34 the cutting blade turns toward the center of the vehicle through an angle of approximately thirty degrees, and the blade 3-5 then extends at an angle of approximately sixty-six degrees with respect to the center line of the apparatus over to the point 35 adjacent the conveyor 31. The cutting blade 31' extends across in front of the conveyor and is approximately in line with the blade 35 although preferably it is set back slightly.

Suitable mold board means is provided to direct all dirt between the points 3! and 32 on tothe conveyor 3'5 which is arranged to receive this dirt from the rearmost portion of the generally concavely arranged cutting blades.

As shown in the above mentioned copending application, means is provided for raising and lowering the earth cutting devices above described, a conveyor 3'? is positioned diagonally of the frame and extends from the forward por tion of the device upwardly, rearwardly, and toward the right, for discharging material from the top of the conveyor so as to fall directly into a hauling wagon or the like traveling in a path parallel to the cutting and loading device. Also suitable driving means is provided for the conveyor as described in the above mentioned copending application.

The wheel means shown for supporting the main load of the entire trailer apparatus comprises the parallel endless crawler tracks 2| and previously mentioned although it will be understood that ordinary wheels might be used at this point if desired. The reason we have shown the crawler tracks is that they give a greater bearing surface and permit the device to travel over soft ground without sinking in. We provide novel means for mounting these crawler tracks on an undercarriage together with means for tilting the loader relative to this undercarriage which makes it possible to control the grade cut by the digging and scraping means. To this end the tracks are provided with central supporting trunnions 2m and 22a respectively which are conn cted by means not shown with the frame portion of the crawler tracks. A type of track suitable for use here is disclosed in the copending application of Stewart F. Armington, Serial Number @3555, filed July 5, 1943, now Patent No. 2,411,408 granted November 19, 1946, and the trunnions Zia, 220, above described correspond to sleeve 2 in said copending application. These trunnions are mounted on a suitable undercarriage which here comprises a common shaft it which is preferably provided with a telescoping joint which is shown at Ma to permit slight elongation and contraction. as is necessary during the adjustments about to be described. One end of this shaft is mounted in the ball-and-socket joint 1! supported from the bracket 12 which is mounted on the main frame member l2. This permits oscillation of the shaft about a substantially horizontal axis in a vertical plane and permits slight oscillation of the shaft in a fore-and-aft direction also. Near its other end the shaft 10 is provided with a bearing in lever 13 intermediate the ends of the lever. This lever is pivoted for oscillation about a substantially horizontal axis at its forward end on the pivot pin I4 which is supported on bracket 15 which is rigid with and extends downwardly from the main frame member II. This bracket at its lower end has a portion 15a extending laterally inwardly to give the proper position of pivot 14. The other end of the lever or beam '53 is pivotally connected at 15 with the piston rod T! of the hydraulic jack 78 which in turn has a trunnion mounting at 19 on a bracket 8% which is connected with side frame member H. It will be noted from examination of Figs. 1 and 4 that the pivot pin 74 is on a line A, which when extended passes through the ball-and-socket joint H. The pivot pin 16 lies along the line B which is parallel to the line A. This reduces to a minimum any friction which might occur when the hydraulic jack 1% is actuated by means (not shown) to raise and lower the piston rod I1 so as to vary the angularity of shaft Ill with respect to the upper portion of the loader. By this means the crawler tracks 25 and 22 always rest flat upon the ground and the superstructure of the loader may be tilted relative thereto.

What we claim is:

1. In a device adapted to dig and load earth by travel along a path, a frame, parallel spaced wheel means supporting said frame for movement along the ground, a common shaft for said wheel means, said shaft having axially aligned telescoping parts intermediate its ends, one end of said shaft having a fixed pivotal mounting on said frame permitting shaft oscillation about a substantially horizontal axis in a vertical plane, a lever having a pivotal mounting on said frame for lever oscillation about a substantially horizontal axis and supporting said shaft at a point spaced from both of said pivotal mountings, and means for holding said lever in various positions relative to said frame.

2. A device as in claim 1 wherein said fixed pivotal mounting for said one end of said shaft comprises a ball and socket joint, and wherein said pivotal mounting for said lever comprises an axis of oscillation which, when extended, passes through said ball and socket joint.

RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON. GEORGE E. ARIWINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 826,548 Dill et al July 24, 1906 1,150,588 Fell Aug. 17, 1915 2,148,504 Richter Feb. 28, 1939 2,324,587 Krogh July 20, 1943 2,387,249 Eddington Oct. 23, 1945 

